Rake.



"rnNr rtree.

JAMES STEERS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

RAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,310, dated October 1899. Application filed January 30, 1899. Serial No. 703,862. (No model.)

T0 aZZ' whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES STEERS, a citizen of the United States, vresiding at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Rakes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective View of a rake embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the rake-head. Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the same, the right end. of the head being broken away to clearly illustrate the method of attaching the teeth in said head. Fig. 4E is an edge elevational view of the rake-head. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the same on line 5 5, Fig. 2. Fig. -6 is a sectional view of the same on line 6 6, Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view, partly in section, showing the manner of securing the head to the handle; and Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the manner of securing the brace-rods to the rake-head.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in rakes for use by gardenersand others, the object being to simplify the construction of such devices without sacriiicing the strength of the same.

With this object in view the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts, all as will hereinafter be described, and afterward pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, A indicates the head of the rake, through which is formed a series of openings substantially vertically disposed for the passage of the teeth B. This head and. these teeth are preferably made of wood, the teeth being formed on their upper ends with suitable heads b,which rest against the upper face of the rake-head A. Through the teeth, at a point close to the lower face of the rakehead A, are formed suitable openings b for the passage of a through-wire C, the ends of which wire are bent upwardly at the ends of the rake-head into grooves a, formed therein. By thus attaching the teeth when wire C is in position it is impossible to displace said teeth with relation to the head A, and the ends of the wire C being buried in the vgrooves o at the ends of the head A are not liable to catch into any obstruction, and, further, said bent ends prevent longitudinal movement ofsaid wire. In the event that a tooth is broken it is only necessary to straighten one of the ends of wire C and withdraw it a sufiicient distance to permit of the introduction of a new tooth, when said wire O may be returned to its original position and its end bent into the groove a.

H eretofore it has been the practice Vto ,di-

yminish thevstock of the end of the rake-handle at the point where it is introduced into the rake-head or provide a metallic fastening, which is too expensive for the common rakes used by gardeners. I contemplate -the fastening of the head to the handle in a simple and inexpensive manner, such attachment not necessitating a reduction of the stock of either ,the head or the handle; but, on the contrary, I

enlarge the head of the rake at the point where the handle is introduced and bore the same with an opening whose diameter corresponds to the full diameter of the handle. This handle I have marked D in the drawings and in manufacturing is preferably inserted in the opening in' head A before the borings are made for the teeth B. In making these borings for the teeth B it will be noticed that the borings for the vtwo central teeth overlap the line of the handle, so that when said borings are made a transverse groove d is provided in each side of the handle, as shown in Fig. 6. When the two middle teeth are introduced into their respective borings on each side of the handle, they enter these grooves d and absolutely lock the handle D against rotation or longitudinal movement.

The wire braces for the rake-head, which are marked E in the drawings, are preferably a continuous wire whose ends are bent under the head at suitable distances from the handle, the rear face of the rake-head'being provided wit-h astaple e, through which the wire brace passes, the middle portion of said brace passing through an opening in the handle, as is shown.

It will be noticed that by the above construction there are no complicated metallic parts in my improved rakefthat the teeth if broken can be readily replaced, that the han# IOO dle is not weakened at its point ot' introduction into the head, that the two middle teeth act as locking-pins to hold the handle in place, or rather the head on the handle, and that the device is simple and inexpensive to manu facture.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isu

I. The combination with a rake-head formed with openings for the reception of teeth, of teeth which are inserted through said openings, said teeth being provided with heads on one end, and a wire which passes through suitable openings in the teeth near the opposite side of the rake-head from that which is engaged by thc teeth-heads, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a rake-head A, of teeth B having heads l) and formed with openings b', and a through-wire C passing through the openings in said teeth, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a rake-head A formed with grooves a in its ends, of teeth B formed with heads b and openings b, and a througlmvire C passing through said openings, and having its ends bent up into the 5. The combination with a rake-head A, of

the handle D, which is received bysaid rakehead, said handle being grooved on each side, as at d, and rake-teeth B which pass through suitable openings in the rake-head on each side of the handle, said rake-teeth being received by the grooves l of lthe handle, substantially as described.

6. The combination with the rake-head and its handle, of a wire brace E passing through an opening in the handle andhavingits ends bent under the rake-head, and a staple e for holding said ends of said brace to the rakehead, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 25th day of Ianuary, 1899.

JAMES STEERS.

Witnesses:

F. R. CoRNwALL, WM. A. Sco'r'r. 

